It’s that time of year for our annual pilgrimage to Quartzsite for the RV Big Tent RV Show and to meet up with friends. Since we are packing up the RV anyway we always like to travel to a few other places. Most years we combine a trip to Borrego Springs in Southern California with our Quartzsite travels but this year we decided to head to San Diego for a change of scenery.
We departed Phoenix and headed south to I-8 through Yuma. It was threatening rain but it never appeared. The day before the San Diego area had received historic rainfall and had quite a bit of flooding but after checking the weather and making a few phone calls it appeared all was well with our planned journey. Or so we hoped!!
We entered California passing the many agricultural fields and lots of billboards advertising dental care, vision care, and pharmacies over the border in Los Algodones, Mexico. The area is well known for day trippers getting their medical needs at an affordable price.
As we continued on I-8 we passed by the Center of the World (yes, really). This granite museum provides a journey through the history of humanity. We have passed by many times but just never stopped but one day we will or so we hope. We will just add it to our ever increasing list of things to do. Soon we were passing through the Imperial Sand Dunes and before we knew it we were driving through the Cuyamaca Mountains past McCain Valley wind turbines and on into San Diego.
Mission Bay RV Resort is easily accessible off I-5 just north of I-8 on land owned by the City of San Diego. There is a nice bike/walking path and the De Anza Park which are both open to the public and are easily accessible from the resort.
The RV park is located on the east side of Mission Bay between De Anza Cove and Mission Bay. We had tried to stay here many times before in the winter but could never get a site but this year there were quite a few sites available. Maybe the tides are shifting in RV travel or maybe the current economy is forcing people to stay home!! We don’t know but sites were available!
Mission Bay is the largest man-made aquatic park of its kind in the world with lots of water activities to keep everyone busy. We wanted a site with a Bay View on the west side of the park overlooking the main part of the bay. It was further from both I-5 and the traffic noise and allowed us to face west for sunset viewing. Our site was wide and long and provided nice views of the bay between a double chain link fence!! As we sat outside and watched the sunset we could just imagine what it would be like in prison. Ha, ha, ha……
RV Park: Mission Bay RV Resort
Location: San Diego, California (east side of Mission Bay)
Site: 48 (back-in) – Bay View
Cost: $161.23
Services: FHU
Comments: A tired RV park but centrally located in San Diego with good views of the bay and easy access to the 12 mile long bike path. We had a picnic table and plenty of room to park the tow vehicle. We didn’t have anyone on either side of us and the bay view provided nice views of birding, kayakers, and sunsets. It was quiet and peaceful with little to no activity. Where is everyone?
The RV Park has both a South Section and a new North Section. We stayed in the South Section which offers approximately 260 paved full hookup sites. The sites are priced differently depending on location and size. We choose a Bay View site.
The Bay View sites offer a “view of the bay” with no swimming but the sites along De Anza Cove are on a public beach. Some prefer the cove sites for the calmer waters. There is one Beachfront Super Site on the cove side for over $200! The site is right next to less expensive sites, along the road, and where lots of I-5 traffic can be heard. Not sure who rents that site?
The new North Section offers an additional 147 large full hookup sites which are unpaved but have nice privacy fences between the sites.
There is also quite a number of empty, abandoned sites which are left over from the De Anza Cleanup and Improvement Project from the last year. Due to asbestos abatement the City of San Diego removed 169 abandoned mobile homes in the area. The lots are now sitting empty and I am not sure what the future plans are for those areas. Right now it looks neglected and abandoned but I think some landscaping efforts are in the plans.
There are at least two dog areas of which the larger one is next to the Bay View sites and the bike path.
The resort also has a heated pool and a club house with games, RV, sitting areas, laundry, showers, restrooms, etc.
“Campland On The Bay” is next to Mission Bay RV Resort and offers a number of activities and sports courts which guests of Mission Bay RV Resort can utilize including a marina for renting kayaks, peddle boats, and pontoon boats. There is also the nearby Adventure Water Sports which rents standup paddle boards, ski boats, and wave runners.
Even though the resort is quite tired it offers great views of the bay for relaxing and enjoying the sunsets and water activities. It also offers excellent proximity to downtown and old town San Diego, Sea World, the Zoo, and many of the tourist attractions that San Diego is so well known for. The photos below are all views from our site.
We did enjoy quite a few activities in the area which we will share in our next post.
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